SO.... is there really no way to fix the steering rack issue on the H3?

[backcountryislife]

Just spent a decent bit of time with him on the phone, getting him a rack sent out & some solid measurements asap... I like his idea on how he wants to do it, and I think it will work well with the other things we're doing to improve the system as a whole.



Btw, I looked at the sleeves that would go into the ABS bushings... they go beyond the width of the bushing itself on the back side, so they're going to be required as part of the system.

 

[silvrzuki77]

Awesome good to hear!!!!! Andrew is very methodical in the way he builds thing to make a soild platform. I know he is very interested in buiding this and once he gets your rack will jump on it. Hopefully you and I will have one pretty quick.

 

[06 H3]

Don't forget me! Thanks kaleb for all the help on the bushings and flex lines lmk when when I can PayPal you. I'm interested in how he welds a center mount I may do something like that too...

 

[tfm-Neil]

My guy who makes bushings said that he feels delrin is not the right material, so he's making them out of abs which he thinks is more ideal. He made a few sets for me, reaper, and 06h3 today. I told him to make a few extra, so there are a few unclaimed, but no big deal once we need to make more. He makes them by hand, so there's no set up fees... just him and his lathe. Let me know if you want a set, I'm not making $$ from them, just trying to help folks get a better setup when paired with hunner's sleeve.

He's also welding a tab that we can attach a center mount to on my and reaper's trucks... maybe we can come up with a simple way to get that on other people's trucks as well.

Sent from my A200 using Tapatalk 2

PM Sent :cheers:

 

[backcountryislife]

Don't forget me! Thanks kaleb for all the help on the bushings and flex lines lmk when when I can PayPal you. I'm interested in how he welds a center mount I may do something like that too...

Sorry... got bushings for the other guys, but he said he couldn't make the ones for you... so sad...

Sent from my A200 using Tapatalk 2

 

[atvspeed4]

Just met with one last shop 1.5 hrs away from me, near where I had gone to college. This shop was amazing, In this small garage was well over a million dollars in equipment. They build products for some amazing companies but spent almost 2 hrs showing me all of their equipment and capabilities. They looked at the steering clamp and said it should not be a problem and will get back to me very soon with a price. As for the bushings for the rack, my intentions are to press out the rubber ones with the sleeves and press in solid aluminum bushings.

 

[jakesz28]

I like the solid aluminum bushings. I could have made those at my last job. I can make a few now but not as easily as before.

 

[tfm-Neil]

Some eye candy for atvspeed4

Ford Capri aluminum rack mounts


Saab aluminum rack mount


Another style of lotus mount.

 

[atvspeed4]

Some eye candy for atvspeed4

Ford Capri aluminum rack mounts
View attachment 6436

Saab aluminum rack mount
View attachment 6437

Another style of lotus mount.
View attachment 6438

Such a tease!

We will be making ours out of stainless most likely. I cannot wait to get a prototype installed. My rack has been moving around since last October! And monday night I went on a short offroad run on this trail that has one foot ledge steps. That definitely didnt help and on the way down I had to go at a angle to not get high centered. My passenger side tire came down first and all of the weight of the vehicle shifted to this tire. This caused the tire to turn inwards and put a slight bow in the tierod...

 

[06 H3]

My rack was in pretty good shape for a long time but I think what did it was when I accidentally slammed into a rock coming down Moab rim. Olan should remember that...we heard bang! Lol

 

[atvspeed4]

Well we finally found a shop to build the clamps. They are going to use their 3D printer to make us a plastic model to mock up and double check all of our clearances. I'll update as I get more info.

 

[06 H3]

How far out? One of the reasons I haven't been wheeling is because my rack is toast! It lasted 94k miles which I'm happy about but I have the new one in the garage waiting to go in but I refuse to put it in if it's still stock. I wanna start wheeling again but I will wait for the abs bushings flex lines I have two hunner sleeves I will weld them to the mounts. That ****er isn't gonna move and if I do slam it hard on a rock the movement will be alright with the flex lines still gotta find a way to fuse the two ends together though.

 

[backcountryislife]

Here are the bushings. He wants me to wheel for 2 weeks on it, and come back & pull them.

Right now we JUST have the bushings on one side & the Hunner sleeve with some thin rubber on the other side. For testing sake we want to see how things hold, and how much movement there is with only this, which is a much more attainable system for folks.

I'm planning on putting a gopro under there to watch how much it moves while doing some nasty stuff on sat.

Btw, ATVspeed, he said that making the bushings from aluminum would be a bad idea for a few reasons. Being that he makes the bushings for most people in the high end sled world, he probably has good reasons for that.

After I run this for 2 weeks and he's comfortable that we're looking good & it's a product he's willing to put out, he'll ship them.

Obviously I can bring some to Moab as well if folks want. Btw, he put them in with a vice, but said that you could do it with a deadblow as well if you're just careful.

Driving home (without an alignment DUH) I thought I felt a little more "feedback" from the wheel with the solid mounts... but can't say it was enough for me to be sure i'm not imagining it.... so nothing that will put people off in other words, which was my main concern in eliminating the rubber.

 

[atvspeed4]

Here are the bushings. He wants me to wheel for 2 weeks on it, and come back & pull them.

Right now we JUST have the bushings on one side & the Hunner sleeve with some thin rubber on the other side. For testing sake we want to see how things hold, and how much movement there is with only this, which is a much more attainable system for folks.

I'm planning on putting a gopro under there to watch how much it moves while doing some nasty stuff on sat.

Btw, ATVspeed, he said that making the bushings from aluminum would be a bad idea for a few reasons. Being that he makes the bushings for most people in the high end sled world, he probably has good reasons for that.

After I run this for 2 weeks and he's comfortable that we're looking good & it's a product he's willing to put out, he'll ship them.

Obviously I can bring some to Moab as well if folks want. Btw, he put them in with a vice, but said that you could do it with a deadblow as well if you're just careful.

Driving home (without an alignment DUH) I thought I felt a little more "feedback" from the wheel with the solid mounts... but can't say it was enough for me to be sure i'm not imagining it.... so nothing that will put people off in other words, which was my main concern in eliminating the rubber.

Thats interesting that he would say that, Im hoping to get a chart together within a week or two to show the durometer of the different materials we have been discussing. If that is really abs (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) than in reality that will have almost zero give to it like aluminum. ABS deteriorates with heat, stress and exposure to oil.

After speaking with several shops on this I will be going the aluminum route, we are solid mounting the passenger side and I want to solid mount the driverside. I can't afford to use a material that can break down and allow any play.

 

[reaper]

I'm planning on putting a gopro under there to watch how much it moves while doing some nasty stuff

Whoooa, didn't know this was THAT kind of site....

 

[Bigunit]

:lmfao:

Whoooa, didn't know this was THAT kind of site....

 

[Pappibri]

:giggle:That was funny.. Cant wait to see the results from Sat. Will be waiting to see the video of that Nasty Stuff that you are talking about....

 

[backcountryislife]

well... I learned one lesson today... if you go up a hill you can't go over... dual exhaust sticking out the back REALLY SUCK if you have to back down.

Went up a little steep wall like the pic posted above, had to back down, and bent my exhaust back under the truck... AWESOME.:gaah:

 

[06 H3]

Chop off the tips...that's what I did

 

[Chook]

Hi Guys,

Just got back from My Mickey Thompson Tyre Dealer (as we sort out the tyre balance problem). As we pulled the wheel we noticed the steering play & clunking noise and immediately thought we had a broken rack. I just got home & pulled the bash plate and a bit of a relief I have the same problem as in the video in this thread. Its good to see you guys are trying to work a solution. I am fortunate I have these guys close by http://www.ultimatepowersteering.com.au/ so I will see what they may be able to do also. (If for nothing else provide an answer for other Aussies & save on Overseas Shipping). Will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,
Arthur

 

[Bigunit]

Chook , please let us know what you come up with yo fix yours.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapataint.

 

[Chook]

Ok I had some time on my hands today while I was waiting for the Sandown V8 Racing so I thought I would have a look & see what needs doing myself (since the power steering guys don't open till Monday anyhow).

I may be underthinking this but I just fixed mine with a thin strap of neoprene rubber (the stuff that doesn't readily compress & with fibre reinforcement in it).

I got under & removed the 1/2 Bracket covering the rubber mount. When I could see the rubber mount went all the way around the rack I looked some more at the bracket. I cut a strap of the neoprene rubber to match the bracket & put a hole in it for the locating hole. I then placed the strap over the rubber mount & it stayed in place using the locating hole. I then put the 1/2 bracket back on & tightened the bolts.

I am happy to be corrected but this worked fine for my problem given it was just that the clamp & rubber had worn that it wasn't holding the rack any more.

I will talk to the power steering guys tomorrow as well just to make sure and let you all know what they say.

Cheers,
Chook

 

[Hunner]

Been there done that in 06. It will probably only be as reliable as the under lying OEM rubber mount. Over time I think you will see it squirm out or allow more movement as the big rubber bushing deteriorates further. It worked for awhile.

I love that V8 racing when we get it over here. What a class of cars and aggressive. It looks like our dirt tracking only in nicer cars on pavement.

 

[Chook]

Been there done that in 06. It will probably only be as reliable as the under lying OEM rubber mount. Over time I think you will see it squirm out or allow more movement as the big rubber bushing deteriorates further. It worked for awhile.

I love that V8 racing when we get it over here. What a class of cars and aggressive. It looks like our dirt tracking only in nicer cars on pavement.

Thanks Hunner good to know........ Will ask these Power Steering guys if they have a better fix............ Stay tuned as the V8's are coming to you in 2013 (Date TBA). They will be racing at the new "Circuit of the Americas" in Dallas. Next year the cars are changing to a new format "Car of The Future". A bit more like your NASCAR where all the chassis & components are the same but the Engine & Body are different. Next year will see Nissan join Holden (GM) & Ford in the racing. They are looking at others also Toyota, Honda, etc. but none have yet confirmed.

Here is their website if you are interested http://www.v8supercars.com.au

 

[Chook]

Ok, I took my H3 to http://www.ultimatepowersteering.com.au/ today. They got it up on the hoist & checked it all out. They confirmed Hunner's finding above that the "D" bracket & rubber sleeve are only a symptom of our problem but the Root Cause are the other mounts. He has said to fix this effectively we need to fix the other mounts first (as they take up all the torque) whereas the D bracket is just a holder. He has recommended poly bushes especially if you are going offroad (or wide tyres or both). He has taken some measurements and looking at what parts he has that would be suitable. (Said if there isn't an exact part he can machine back one that is close) either way he said he will have a fix for me by lunchtime tomorrow.

Once I get it back I will take some photos & post them here with any details.

Cheers,
Arthur